How can I request a book or other item that is not owned by AACPL?

Answer

To request a book that is not currently owned by AACPL, first check to see if it available in the Maryland state interlibrary loan catalog, Marina. 

If the item is unavailable to borrow in Marina, please fill out our request form and a library staff member will respond to you about whether the item is is available to borrow via our nationwide lending network or, if it is a newer item, can be purchased for our collection. Please note that purchase requests cannot be placed prior to the item's publication date.  

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  • Last Updated Apr 18, 2024
  • Views 7602
  • Answered By Stephanie L. Petruso

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Comments (4)

  1. May I ask, how new must a title be to be eligible for purchase? Thank you!
    by Melony on May 16, 2023
  2. As a general rule, items that are six months old or newer will be submitted as a purchase request, while we will try to obtain materials older than six months through interlibrary loan.
    by AACPL on May 16, 2023
  3. I recently requested two new books that have been published within the past six months, not owned by any library in Maryland. Rather than the AACPL purchasing them, they were shipped in for brief loan periods from libraries in Utah and Chicago. Is that the case with all requests? How does the library decide what they will purchase? Thank you!
    by Reader on Jun 27, 2023
  4. Books newer than six months will be submitted to our Materials Management Department as requests for purchase. They refer to our Collection Development Policy to determine whether to purchase them or not - if not, library staff will try to find a copy via interlibrary loan. You can see the Collection Development Policy here: https://www.aacpl.net/policies/collection-development-policy
    by AACPL on Jun 28, 2023